The only thing that can effect a big change in personality is something that physically rewires the brain and/or alters the body's chemical milieu.
Neal StephensonThis is one of the two great labyrinths into which human minds are drawn: the question of free will versus predestination.
Neal StephensonThe less attractive the character, the more I enjoyed writing them. Officious bureaucrats and PowerPoint weasels are where it's at for me.
Neal StephensonAll people have religions. It's like we have religion receptors built into our brain cells, or something, and we'll latch onto anything that'll fill that niche for us.
Neal StephensonWe are all susceptible to the pull of viral ideas. Like mass hysteria. Or a tune that gets into your head that you keep humming all day until you spread it to someone else. Jokes. Urban legends. Crackpot religions. Marxism. No matter how smart we get, there is always this deep irrational part that makes us potential hosts for self-replicating information.
Neal Stephenson